12-08-2015, 11:48 PM
The single most important scientific endeavor of our age is the precise location and characterization of potentially habitable [earth-like] extrasolar planets. Visiting the moon and mars are irrelevant sideshows. TMT must be built since it will be the only instrument with planet characterization capability in the northern hemisphere; half of the universe.
Sustained 1 Gravity propulsion based upon the vacuum energy of space is all that is required for relativistic travel. It is a technological Black Swan that is about to make an appearance, and it will not be from NASA or the US Government.
A Starship with nowhere to go because the needed work determining a destination has not been done is a pathetic notion. You cannot simply go from star to star at random. Even at lightspeed that takes decades per try. We need candidate extrasolar systems with a high probability of being viable destinations.
TMT is not a political sideshow. There are huge stakes here.
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You can't fix Samsara.
Sustained 1 Gravity propulsion based upon the vacuum energy of space is all that is required for relativistic travel. It is a technological Black Swan that is about to make an appearance, and it will not be from NASA or the US Government.
A Starship with nowhere to go because the needed work determining a destination has not been done is a pathetic notion. You cannot simply go from star to star at random. Even at lightspeed that takes decades per try. We need candidate extrasolar systems with a high probability of being viable destinations.
TMT is not a political sideshow. There are huge stakes here.
---------------------------
You can't fix Samsara.